Influenza Z

4. Trapped

Chapter Four ● Trapped

            Grant shrieked in an octave that he never knew his voice could reach. Mr. Kidd slammed the cafeteria doors and held them in place. “CLOSE THE DOORS! CLOSE THE DOORS!” barked Mr. Kidd.

            His voice was loud enough to cause students to stare at him strangely, but not loud enough to cause them to obey his orders. Grant echoed Mr. Kidd’s words, encouraging more students to hush.

            “Grant, what’s going on?!” asked Levi.

        Grant’s worried eyes met Levi’s as he gave him a hectic look. “There were zombies out there!” Grant explained, loud enough for everyone in the cafeteria to hear. As Levi inhaled sharply, Reed ran his fingers through his hair in disbelief. While Cassidy put her hand on her heart, the people inside Cafeteria B ran around clamoring. Some students were smart enough to shut the doors and hold them in place, following Mr. Kidd’s example. As Septics threw themselves into the closed doors, more students began to fearfully cry. Some lunch workers and students, who were in the process of buying their lunch, ran out of the kitchen to find the source of the sudden noise. Cassidy turned and saw the people pouring out of the kitchen, so she ran to its entrance and warned, “Everybody, come in here where it’s safe! There are Septics in the hallway!”

            Those with enough sense to believe her heeded her advice. Everyone else remained in the kitchen, which connected Cafeteria A and Cafeteria B.

        Once anyone who wanted to leave did so, Cassidy shut the door to the kitchen and joined her friends, who were huddled together in the center of the room. She shoved through the sea of frightened people in order to reach them.

            “That’s it. I’m calling my mom,” Levi announced, pulling out his cell phone. Reed lowered Levi’s hand to stop him.

            “To do what? To tell her to pick you up? If she comes here, she’ll die. We can’t leave, and no one can enter,” Reed elucidated, branding every ounce of truth into Levi’s brain.

            “Not to mention, the school is locked,” added Grant. Solemnly, Levi put his phone back in his pocket.

            Suddenly, a lunch worker walked over to his group. They openly observed her, checking for any signs of the disease. Fortunately, she appeared healthy.

            “Excuse me, young lady?” the woman said timidly, pointing to Cassidy.

            “Me?” answered Cassidy.

            “Yes. I saw you warning everyone to come inside. Did you tell the people in Cafeteria A?” she questioned.

            “No, my voice doesn’t carry that far. Why?” Cassidy responded.

            Quickly, the cafeteria worker looked down at her feet and began mumbling a prayer. This alarmed Cassidy and her friends.

            “Lady, what’s the matter?” asked Reed, concerned.

            The woman looked back up at him with crazed eyes. “Son, the kitchen is connected to Cafeteria A and Cafeteria B. The kitchen doesn’t lock.”

            “What do you mean, ‘the kitchen doesn’t lock’?!” demanded Levi.

            “About three years ago, one of my coworkers accidentally locked us all out of the kitchen, so all the food spoiled. It cost the school a lot of money, so they disabled all of the locks on the doors,” the cafeteria worker told them.